No Bake Peanut Butter Energy Bar

You are going to fall in love with these No Bake Peanut Butter Energy Bars! They are portable, filling and you don’t even have to turn on the oven to make them! You’ll never purchase store-bought energy bars again! Are you planning a road trip this summer? Are you always rushing out the door without eating breakfast? Meet your new favorite recipe!

Millet? What the heck is that?

It’s the stuff on the bottom left of the tray. Millet looks like bird seed. Well, millet is used as bird seed, but it’s pretty tasty human food, too! I promise you won’t sprout yellow feathers and a beak by eating it, but you will be consuming healthy amounts of iron, protein, fiber, calcium, and magnesium from it! I love millet because it provides a significant crunch factor when used in its raw form. I purchase millet at Whole Foods from the self-serve bin area. If you want to skip the millet omit it and add more coconut to the mixture.

In fact, you can customize the bars to your liking. Don’t like dried figs? Substitute your favorite dried fruit instead! Not a fan of peanut butter? Feel free to substitute almond butter or cashew butter instead. Keep in mind, if you are substituting another type of nut butter for the peanut butter you may need to use a bit more. Cashew and almond butter tend to have a bit of a drier consistency compared to peanut butter.

Do I need to use the stove for this recipe?

I recommend heating the peanut butter and honey on the stovetop over medium heat for about ninety seconds. You need just a bit of warmth to make the peanut butter and honey a bit more fluid. This step helps them combine with the oat mixture evenly.

You can mix the ingredients for the bars one of two ways. Either stir it by hand using a sturdy wooden spoon or if you have a stand mixer use it with the paddle attachment on low speed. I tested this recipe using both methods. Both work just fine, stirring this by hand gives your arm a bit of a strength training session but is totally doable!

Use a spatula to help push the energy bar mixture into the corners of the pan. Use your hands or press down on a large flat pancake turner to flatten it till it’s well compressed and flat. Be sure to put a lot of pressure on the mixture in the pan that way it packs and won’t fall apart when pulling it out of the baking pan. Leaving a bit of parchment paper hanging over the sides of the pan creates handles you can use to pull the chilled energy bars up and out of the pan easily when ready to slice into bars.

The nutritional info for the recipe is based on one large bar out of eight servings. If you like, you can cut the bars into smaller portions. Wrap the bars in plastic wrap. The bars can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks or frozen in a Ziploc bag for a few months.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Energy Bar

Description

No-Bake Peanut Butter Energy Bars! The best portable snack to tote along on your next adventure! Full of creamy peanut butter, rolled oats, dried figs, chocolate chips, and more! You’ll never shell out $$$ for store-bought energy bars again!

Scale

Ingredients

2 cups regular rolled oats

1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup millet

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 Tbsp sesame seeds (toasted or untoasted)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or chip of your choice!)

1/2 cup chopped dried figs

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 and 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving the excess paper at the edges. You’ll need some paper to grab onto to lift bars out of the pan before cutting into bars.

In a large bowl combine everything but the peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract.

In a small saucepan, place the peanut butter and honey.

Warm the peanut butter and honey over medium heat for about ninety seconds to soften and combine them. This step makes it easier to work into the oat mixture. Pull peanut butter and honey from the stovetop and mix in the vanilla extract.

Pour warmed peanut butter and honey mixture over the oats. Using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon mix well. This step takes a little bit of elbow grease. If you prefer, you can place oat mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed until well combined.

Once the mixture is combined, dump it into the lined baking pan. Using your hands press the mixture into the pan to form a level square. You can also use a spatula to help push it into the pan.

Place the pan into the refrigerator to chill until firm. Wait several hours before cutting into bars. If you are pressed for time, you can place the bars in the freezer for an hour to firm up.

When bars are thoroughly chilled, and firm grab the excess parchment paper along the edges and lift the bars up and out of the pan. Remove the parchment paper and place the square of energy bars on a large cutting board. Using a sharp knife cut into bars or squares. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap.

Bars may be refrigerated up to two weeks or place them in a Ziploc bag and freeze up to several months.

Notes

Don’t keep the bars in a hot car. They do not fare well! Take a cooler filled with ice and pop them in there.